Rick Hogaboam Audio Sermon, Hosea 12 “Jacob Vs. Israel”

http://www.sovereigngracefellowship.org/oldtest/hosea_part12.mp3

Rick Hogaboam Audio Sermon, Hosea 11 “I am God and Not a Man”

http://www.sovereigngracefellowship.org/oldtest/hosea_part11.mp3

Rick Hogaboam Audio Sermon, Hosea 10 “Crying Over the Wrong Things”

http://www.sovereigngracefellowship.org/oldtest/hosea_part10.mp3

Rick Hogaboam Audio Sermon, Hosea 8

http://www.sovereigngracefellowship.org/oldtest/hosea_part8.mp3

Rick Hogaboam Audio Sermon, Hosea 7 “To See or Not to See”

http://www.sovereigngracefellowship.org/oldtest/hosea_part7.mp3

Rick Hogaboam Audio Semon, Hosea 6 “The Sin of Insincere Worship”

http://www.sovereigngracefellowship.org/oldtest/hosea_part6.mp3

Rick Hogaboam Audio Sermon, Hosea 5 “God Rests His Case”

http://www.sovereigngracefellowship.org/oldtest/hosea_part5.mp3

Rick Hogaboam Audio Sermon, Hosea 4 “My People Are Destroyed for Lack of Knowledge”

http://www.sovereigngracefellowship.org/oldtest/hosea_part4.mp3

Rick Hogaboam Audio Sermon, Hosea 3, “Jesus Paid it All”

http://www.sovereigngracefellowship.org/oldtest/hosea_part3.mp3

Rick Hogaboam Audio Sermon, Hosea 2 “Call Me Husband”

http://www.sovereigngracefellowship.org/oldtest/hosea_part2.mp3

Thoughts on W. Hildebrandt’s “An Old Testament Theology of the Spirit of God”…and thoughts on the Ramifications of the “Prophethood” of all Believers to New Testament Ecclesiology

Hildebrandt, W. (1995). An Old Testament Theology of the Spirit of God. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson.

Yahweh’s action in pouring out the Spirit has extensive effects. “I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days” (Joel 2:28f.). The thrust of the passage indicates that the coming transformation brought about by the ruah will radically change social conditions in the community. All people will be privileged possessors of the Spirit, not just the prophets….The programmatic desire of Moses is here affirmed and moved a step closer to fulfillment: “I wish that all the LORD’s people were prophets and that the LORD would put his Spirit on them!”….Therefore, the charismatic endowment of the gift is extended to the whole community (Hildebrandt 1995:98).

This great truth of the democratization of the Spirit upon all of God’s people poses many challenges to New Testament ecclesiology. It is sometimes erroneously concluded that the “Pentecostal” blessing makes all co-equals, thus rendering unnecessary any structure of authority or headship within the New Testament church. While we have a “charismatic” laity that is empowered to minister to one another as they have been gifted, we also see that Christ blesses the church with certain leaders who are especially set aside for ministry to the local body of believers. Both, the “charismatic” gifting of all people and the giving of leaders to the church, need to be affirmed alongside each other.

Baptist polity has often emphasized the “priesthood of all believers” in their ecclesiastical identity to encourage lay ministry. While such a paradigm is somewhat commendable, it is better to identify the involvement of the laity in ministry as a direct procession of Pentecost. The Pentecostal event not only renders one “saved”, but as an empowered “witness” to the world. Paul’s pnuematology, as seen in his epistle to the Corinthian church, views the church as a “charismatic” community as a direct correlation to their reception of the Spirit as members of the body of Christ.

Moses, though a great leader, desired the empowering of other leaders to better serve the needs of Israel. His desire that all would be prophets was not so much a desire to be absolved from any responsibilities as a leader as much as it was a longing for a day when God would empower His people in such a way that the burdens of serving the people would be shared in a larger extent within the community itself. While the New Testament church contains appointed officers and leaders (Bishop, Elder, Presbyter, Pastor, Deacon, etc) who are called to minister to the people, they are complemented by the broader community itself, which is empowered to lovingly serve one another as they have been gifted.

Rick Hogaboam Sermon Series on Hosea, Part 1

I will start uploading links on this blog to my MP3 sermons, thus allowing the option of subscribing to the Podcast on iTunes and automatically downloading all sermons as they are updated. Then again you can just click on the links provided and download the MP3 file if you’d like.

 Hosea 1 “God Divorces His People”: http://www.sovereigngracefellowship.org/oldtest/hosea_part1.mp3

 

Is God provoked by America’s Worship of Mammon?

    

I am preaching through the book of Hosea and in my sermon preparation for Hosea 2, I made the following observations:

Hosea 2:9-13 (ESV)

(9)  Therefore I will take back my grain in its time, and my wine in its season, and I will take away my wool and my flax, which were to cover her nakedness.

(10)  Now I will uncover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and no one shall rescue her out of my hand.

(11)  And I will put an end to all her mirth, her feasts, her new moons, her Sabbaths, and all her appointed feasts.

(12)  And I will lay waste her vines and her fig trees, of which she said, ‘These are my wages, which my lovers have given me.’ I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall devour them.

(13)  And I will punish her for the feast days of the Baals when she burned offerings to them and adorned herself with her ring and jewelry, and went after her lovers and forgot me, declares the LORD.

 

-          God is here sending famine and desolation to show that Baal isn’t god…to make it plainly obvious…they can sacrifice all they want, dress up and adorn themselves and prostitute themselves all they want to bring fertility in the land….it will all be vain and Baal will be revealed as a powerless and bankrupt pimp who did his lovers no good, and Israel/Gomer will stand naked and poor, realizing that Baal is no true god and that the Lord is God.

-          I am not likening America to Israel, but I do believe that God could very well send nations famine today to make Himself known. If this economic downturn should result in the salvation of sinners who come to realize that the Stock Market isn’t their God, then it is entirely worth it. The great American God, Mammon, will leave its people bankrupt and starving…causing the fortuneless to look up and acknowledge that the Lord is God…so I pray.